An ideal home
by ARSMoon
Summary: Things on the underground would look normal to an outsider, it s monsters go trough their everyday life without any thought. However, inside them lay hidden feelings of frustration, depression and impotence; Papyrus, a skeleton who desires to become a royal guard, is one of them. In order to fully understand what is happening to his brother he'll have to go on adventure.
1. Prologue

**An ideal home**

The hall was cloaked in a golden light, from it's tall windows invisible gods seemed to judge the actions of those who crossed the only way to reach the king. The atmosphere felt heavy yet royal, as if the pristine walls reflected it's only occupant.

Well, apart from a tiny skeleton standing in the way. His emotionless skull appeared to show anger and sadness even if his posture suggested he wasn't being serious. But the child in front of him knew for sure he should not be played with.

They both stood in silence looking at each other; the kid, with his striped shirt and dusty knife, gave the monster a glare full of hate to which the skeleton replied:

-Oh Come on, you can't be that mad at me pal, right?- the human child prepared his attack without taking his eyes off the skeleton- I guess the fiftieth-or-so time's a charmer-

Soon light disappeared leaving frustrated groans in the dark, followed by lasers, casual death threats and psychopathic laughter. Neither rival landed a hit on the other, the poor monster had become predictable.

The fight went on for a long time, there was no clear winner, it was a game of luck at this point. And luck favored the human. The skeleton was fighting with everything he got when a familiar scream distracted him; in a faraway place his brother screamed. That single error gave the child an opportunity to slice him.

The feeling was hot and cold at the same time, perhaps his blood dripping on the metallic touch of death. Or his life stolen by his brother's killer. He tried to escape but his world soon became numb and black.

-NO!-

Sans woke up instantly, it had all been a dream. Except for the fact that his brother was screaming downstairs, from his room he couldn't make a single word but the memory of his recurrent dream made him quickly stand up and head downstairs. His feet betrayed him the moment he jumped out of bed, as this had been too fast for him to handle, but he regained control as soon as possible to reach his brother.

Once he was on the living room he heard his brother grumble yet again, rushing to the kitchen door his voice cracked as he asked:

-Papyrus! Are you alright?-

The tall skeleton turned around a little ashamed for waking up his brother.

-Yes! Well, sort of… You see, dear brother, I was preparing us some amazing and delicious breakfast, when that hot pot filled with boiling water fell at my feet! Not that the great Papyrus can't withstand such a common miscalculation but it…hurt…a little bit.

Sorry for waking you up.-

The small skeleton sighed with relief.

-No problem Pap, just keep your cool, will 'ya?-

-Sans, it´s too early for your…-

-…flaming puns?-

Papyrus took a deep breath and returned to his cooking, hoping that his brother's silly jokes will stop. He ended up hearing them through the whole morning, much to San's pleasure.

The torture finally ended when he left him on his post to watch for humans as he made his way to his own. On the time he walked alone thoughts of what could be keeping giving those nightmares to his brother, although late night ketchup drinking was his main guess something inside him wondered if there was something wrong with Sans. He never said anything about his nightmares nor his true feelings, Papyrus had tried to find the truth so many times just to encounter a barrier between the two. A special occasion always came to his mind when such situation occupied his thoughts.

It was a freezing noon in Snowdin, the thick layer of snow forced it's residents to stay inside, luckily for the skeleton brothers there were warm blankets and hot drinks on their house. The two were watching T.V when the older dropped the uncomfortable question.

-Sans, I know you…you don't like talking about yourself, but I got to know; what in the world is happening to you?-

-What? Where does that come from? I've already told you that I'm fine-

-But you are not by any means **fine**! Almost every night you have those horrible nightmares, you even sometimes cry or scream in your sleep!-

His brother looked away in silence.

-I'm not putting any blame on you, I just want to help…-

Sans stood up, his eye sockets completely black. He was halfway through the living room when he said:

-I'm sorry, I'll go to my room-

-Wait, Sans!-

Papyrus tried to reach out but his brother disappeared into thin air. A gigantic feel or dread filled his entire optimistic being making him fall on his knees, there was not a small spark of happiness left as silent tears fell down his skull. That night he locked himself up on his room, he had learned a difficult lesson: there were secrets his only family kept away from him and there was nothing to do about it.

As sadness threatened to ruin his day the great skeleton replaced such thoughts with plans for what he'll cook that afternoon and daydreams of him becoming a royal guard.

The day was passing by as usual until a strange noise caught Papyrus's attention, it seemed as if his brother was talking really quietly but there was a weird accent on that voice. He tracked the sound down to an isolated part of Snowdin, there were no monsters around nor anything that could be making such a sound for that matter, and as soon as Papyrus turned around a string seemed to pull him back, said string was invisible but powerful enough to neglect the monster's efforts to escape until everything went black and a loud crack struck all his senses.


	2. Chapter 1 Jolly accident

Chapter1. Jolly accident.

Blackness. Silence.

Whatever had brought Papyrus here was nowhere to be seen in the ominous blinding darkness that surrounded him; it would have been easy to think that his eye sockets were deceiving him for his other senses did perceive something at least. A faint sound far away told him that he wasn't alone on this odd place, his entire body felt a little tired but he was determined to find what was happening.

Although he usually greeted or loudly asked for anything when seeing himself in somewhat similar situations this time he decided to approach whoever was there carefully, perhaps the imposing atmosphere of eternal dark influenced his behavior. Still his thoughts raced through a thousand options for what had happened and what was in store, " _Maybe I just fell on a really well-crafted trap by a fellow puzzle enthusiast, I should make it my acquaintance to exchange tips_ " a voice in his head did monologue continuously.

He wandered in the shadows for quite a long time, whatever had made a sound now was quiet as if it never existed, and this crushed Papyrus's hopes; but one cannot bring down the skeleton's positive outlook so easily, he kept saying to himself that this trial must lead him to a great reward of some sort or an exit, even trying victory speeches on his own as a form of breaking the cold and terrifying silence that invaded everything.

-When I find someone, apart from admiring their incredible puzzle skills, I shall ask them to remove those strings off their trap, my bones still hurt from that pull!-

More silence, hopeless obscure surroundings with no place or individual to go, supreme loneliness; those sentiments tried to infiltrate Papyrus's kind and hopeful hearth with no result even after this much time. But his body began to show defeat between the extenuating walk and the marks left by the strings, walking slowly his endless search appeared more impossible to fulfill.

Until a soft change in the shadows that surrounded him began to develop into a visible light and what seemed like the opposite of the current location he was in. More importantly, Papyrus could distinguish an anthropomorphic silhouette on the distance. Using the little energy left in his entire self he ran towards the stranger, his feet almost floated with the velocity hope had given him; as he approached the silhouette it reminded him more and more of his brother, no monster could say if it was a skeleton or not and yet his short bulky figure brought Sans to his mind, then the monster turned around.

His clothes were unnaturally white, a pale skull on top of a red scarf that shared an uncanny resemblance with his own scarf, an open wound bleeding in his rib cage next to strange bumps in his skull and to top it all off he was identical to his brother.

The injured impostor looked at the tall skeleton with a surprise that petrified him on the spot, unable to speak or make any sound for that matter; he gazed at the other monster in a silent conversation.

Finally Papyrus broke said silence as he rushed towards the impostor, blindingly believing he was his brother.

-Sans! What happened to you? What are you doing here? Let me check if I can help you with that horrible wound…-

His hands almost touched Sans's injury when he stopped them and quickly threw himself on a desperate hug, grasping his brother as if he were to disappear in a blink. Although he did not understand why this strange looking Sans was hugging him he did so as well.

-Papyrus, it's been so long…-

-I would not say so myself, but if you feel that way I guess I should comfort you- The confused monster then broke the embrace to look at his supposed brother- but we need to find someone who can help you with that-

Sans let a tired chuckle as he looked at his brother's worried look, there was a sense of despair in his expression that made Papyrus feel sad.

-I'm fine. Really, I've been like this for a long time-

-What? But you were perfectly normal today's morning; and I know some time has passed though I still can't see how you managed to get like this in such amount of time. Do not fear my brother, for I shall avenge you with a serious talk to whoever did this to you!-

-Oh Paps, can you really be this oblivious? Is it that you do not see something else that doesn't fit in the picture?-

-Well you changed clothes-

-I…I can't handle you…he he he…-

Sans then softly laughed, but his laughter soon turned into a cry. The younger skeleton looked at him puzzled about all that was happening, before he could say anything his brother spoke with a false happy tone trying to ease Papyrus's concern over him.

-You…you asked me where are we, right?-He only looked at the short skeleton with a confused yet worried gaze- Well, let's just say that this is a safe place that almost no one can enter…nor leave. Pap…he, tibia honest with you…I'm not truly your brother…-

-Nonsense you're Sans my bro…-

-Yes, my name is Sans but I'm not the Sans you grew up with as you are not…-he sighed and took a deep breath- You are not my…-

Suddenly a striking sound invaded that silent sanctuary as if it's barrier was being torn apart by a colossal and destructive force of nature. Sans swiftly adopted a protective position covering Papyrus from whatever was threatening the dark dimension.

-How the hell did he break the multi-dimensional barrier that protects these screens? Could he control this universe after all?-

-W-What is happening, "Sans"?-

-Papyrus, you need to stay by my side until we find a way out of this, you'll be alright just stick with me, Ok?-

-Okay, but...-

An extremely heavy weight appeared on his ribs and soul, his companion let out an angry shout as he looked down. Around his chest were strings strangling his bones making his already weak body ache with each movement, soon those powerful artifacts dragged him across the floor. He felt dizzy, his eyesight lost focus as his other senses just grasped his injured false brother's cry.

-I'll save you, Papyrus-

-Papyrus?-

The aspiring royal guard was freezing cold and barely conscious, the voice of his brother was calling him and he wanted to answer but he was too weak. Even though he felt his brother was far from him, in a matter of seconds a pair of arms rescued him from the snow blanket that planned to bury him alive, as he asked frenetically.

-Are you ok? Oh goodness what happened? Bro please say something! Tell me you're here with me! No, no, no he's so cold… too cold. Please, Paps wake up…please…-

-S-sans-

The short monster sighed with relief, he proceeded to take his jacket off and put in on his brother's shoulders, even so Papyrus was shivering and his body temperature stayed cold as an ice cube. He tried to speak only to be interrupted by his shivers or his fatigue.

-Shhh. It's fine now, just relax I'll use a shortcut and we'll be on the house in no time-

And so he did. In the blink of an eye they were in front of their house, he did not see how Sans managed to carry him all the way to his room but he found himself there covered by fluffy blankets that will make him warm. Everything had happened so fast, it was so confusing and his whole body ached so he went to sleep.

When he woke up a distant conversation, probably on the living room downstairs, could be heard, if his memory was still intact from whatever was making him ill that should be 's voice and Sans's. From his room their chatter was nothing more than a mumble with certain worried tone. So Papyrus decided to come and greet their visitor.

The single moment he tried to step out of bed a powerful and swift ache invaded his whole body as he unintentionally let out a scream. Soon the sound disappeared, as both monsters rushed upstairs to aid the poor skeleton for he could not comprehend the severity of his situation. When they appeared on the door the injured skeleton happily waved, ignoring the pain such action brought.

-Oh hello Doctor, what has brought you here? Has Sans been a good host? Please excuse me for I cannot…-

-D-Do not worry about it. Sans called me and-

-Sans have you asked the doctor if she would like anything to eat or drink?-

-Paps, now's not the time-

-I might be disqualified for a host right now but a proper monster never forgets his manners. In fact I-He tried to raise his hand as to prove a point but this caused him pain so he whispered-Ouch! Those bones of mine seem too fragile today.-

Alphys sighed, not even such a harsh scenario could stop Papyrus's antics even if they made his condition worse. She took a deep breath and asked the skeleton how he felt.

-Hmm? Apart from that annoying pain I get every time I try to move, I feel quite good, and you doctor?-

-I'm fine thanks. So this pain started when?-

-After I woke up on the snow-

-Huh, I see…-

The scientist turned her face to the ground as her mind pulled the string together of what had happened. Although her face revealed a feeling of uncertainty she made her diagnosis with a strong conviction.

-Papyrus, I believe that your symptoms point out to an excessive amount of work over your body then accompanied by a case of hypothermia with fall from your own altitude-

-What does that mean?-

-That you work too hard and need to rest; I mean your pain is mainly due to the latter but if you lived a little calmer you would have never passed out.-

-So you could say…-

-Sans please, not now…-

-That you've worked yourself "down to the bone"?-

The ill workaholic shouted at his brother with remarkable anger for the use of puns in such a situation, while watched the scene with a nostalgic sense of family and childish innocence that softened her tortured hearth. Her laughter only made Papyrus's anger grow, even if these interactions were not recommended his lively and passionate behavior seemed like a hope for quick recovery.

Long after the doctor was gone, the two brothers engaged in their night customs as usual, but as Sans prepared to read the same bed time story to Papyrus the amazing monster stopped him from doing so himself. In his skull the older brother could easily recognize concern, he did have lots of it as well but tried to act normal.

-What is it, bro?-

-Sans, if…if I told you something weird.. Would you laugh at me?-

-Of course not, I'll never laugh at you bro.-

-Well-his eye sockets travelled the entire room in search of any confidence left in him-When I was "passed out" I saw a strange place and a strange…you.-

Sans didn't say anything, he stood frozen on his seat unable to speak. His brother continued with his story.

-The place was really dark, I felt every minute I ran in that odd place like it was real. Then when I finally saw the other Sans, I was so happy…but he talked a little weird and seemed really sad. Also he wore my scarf, if you ask me that's very rude to my heroic persona yet I didn't say anything about it. He was injured but refused my care. And that's not the weirdest part, after that we heard a loud sound and he became so nervous, talking about barriers and "he". Just when I was about to ask him what was happening a strange force pulls me…And then I woke up…-

His brother stayed silent for a long time, taking all that info and dissecting every piece of it in hopes of finding a meaning and an answer to whether it was a dream or not. He concluded by giving his brother a heartfelt smile as he exited the room.

-That was just a really bad nightmare, don't think too hard about it. Good night bro-

-Good night Sans.-

As darkness covered his room a strong feeling of unease grew inside him. Unlike every night it took him a while to get some rest but he accomplished this and hoped for better dreams.

-You know, brother, your manners could use some work. Poor Alphys looked all thirsty and you did not offer her anything!-

The chubby monster sighed, a day and a half since the accident and his brother couldn't stop talking about how bored he was or how rude Sans was with the doctor, it was a true test of love and patience. But no repetitive chatter could extinguish the concern growing inside him, even at the obvious recovery his brother was experiencing deep down he felt there was something more sinister than an excessive amount of pressure from work.

-Bro, ya gotta chill or you might drive me crazy-

-If by crazy you mean polite, then yes I look forward to drive you insane.-

Before Sans could reply Papyrus acquired a serious aura that sent cold shivers down his brother's spine.

-What is bothering you, Paps?-

-Huh? Oh…-he held a pillow close to his ribcage- It's just that, well, I don´t understand how you can do this every day…-

-Come on! You know there's not a single bone of mine that isn't lazy.-

He sighed tiredly to then adopt a more positive look as he turned around to face Sans.

-I suppose that's true. Even so I'm happy that we could spend some time togheter-

If there still was a thing in the world that could give Sans happiness it was Papyrus's innocent and cheerful nature, the words of sincere fraternity warmed his rock-hard hearth. He lived for moments like this.

Meanwhile Papyrus decided to change his sitting position and from the back of a pillow a dirty sock appeared, much to the skeleton's dismay. However his brother started to laugh.

-SANS! What's this?! Pick it up! Stop laughing! SANS!-

-Alright let me give you a hand- he said as he detached his own hand and gave it to his brother.

-OH FOR ASGORE'S SAKE!-

The dispute continued as the younger one scolded his older brother and the latter nodded while bursting in laughter.

As the days passed (and with Dr. Alphys's approval) Papyrus returned to work as if nothing had ever happened, although his brother kept a close eye on him. And the short skeleton had informed the head of the royal guard of his brother's condition, the herculean fish woman had always been fond of the innocent monster so she took her task with delight.

Now there was no possible way to lose Papyrus to whatever had happened before, or so they thought.

It was midnight, a similar ache pulled his ribs forcing him to stand up and walk. He could not scream, he felt too weak to do so, after all he only wished to follow the strings, those precious blue strings.

They guided him through Snowdin and Waterfall with ease and suddenly stopped before the endless void where the waterfalls disappeared into the nothingness. His sleepy gaze was fixated on that pure blackness, so similar to the one of his dreams, and an impulse within him helped by the soft pull of the strings invited him to jump down.

And so he did.


	3. Chapter 2 Puzzle buddies

Chapter 2. Puzzle buddies

Cold yet soft, white and familiar. Had it all been just a nightmare? Did time put him back on the same instance where he'd almost met death? But his bones were tired not freezing and Sans was somewhere else, maybe he sleepwalked back to Snowdin falling asleep once again on the snow. Regardless of how he got there he stood up and started to analyze his surroundings, it uncannily resembled the place where his brother found him after "the accident".

-Mm…Things are really strange and illogical, just like a…Oh! Papyrus you are a genius! And apparently a lucid dreamer; I wonder how I didn't notice earlier, I guess even I surprise myself from time to time. Huh? What's that over there?-

The skeleton rushes towards a sleek icy surface properly shaped like a square, he starts to laugh joyfully while examining every inch of said invention and as his bony finger touches it a light spark runs through his body.

-Fantastic! Truly a work of art! So precise in its structure, simple yet deadly, a perfect trap for a human who stays ignorant to the true solution hidden in plain sight, brilliant! Perhaps- he chuckled a little – shocking! Oh Sans would've love that one…-

Papyrus admired such craft with a nostalgic gaze until he remembered the nature of the world he was in.

-Right, I could just dream for Sans to be here-

He stroked a really weird pose as his mind focused on bringing his brother into the dream realm, with an apparent failure he tried again unsuccessfully failing for a second time.

-My powers seem to be limited, maybe I did summon him but somewhere far from here? After all I was not very specific and dreams seem to care a lot about properly made and precise requests. Fear not my imaginary sibling, for the great and lucid dreamer Papyrus shall come in your aid!-

As the snow covered everything in sight he set off to find Sans; walking confidently through Snowdin´s lovely scenery accompanied only by the silence that gave the place its cool and relaxing atmosphere which lifted Papyrus's spirits.

Soon enough he found some signs of other monsters: a food stand, a golf flag, some snow sculptures and unresolved crosswords and word search activities. He also found a frozen taco that made him feel somewhat uneasy. But no real beings, only their traces.

He started to wonder if there was any reason to keep on going when he saw a figure, far away, that resembled his brother. As he got closer he could see that the other skeleton was calibrating a puzzle of the hidden snow trap variant with spikes going down as a reward.

-That monster!- he said quietly- He's the one responsible for the masterpiece I found earlier, I must approach him so we can exchange ideas and experiences-

Papyrus then walked up to the puzzle crafter and, with his most heroic pose, proceeded to introduce himself.

-Hello good gentleman. I, the great Papyrus, could not help but fixate on your superb work, would you mind to discuss your puzzle theory whit me?-

The stranger looked at him confused. He resembled Papyrus´s brother but somewhat shorter, with pure blue eyes and a happier grin that showed once he snapped out of his confusion.

-Wow thanks for the compliments and the fancy talk. Hey you won't believe this but you look a lot like my awesome bro and you even share the same name!-

-Wowie, I have a twin now. Speaking of look alikes you're practically my bro as well, just more aware of the splendor of the hero look-

-Oh, let me guess! His name wouldn't happen to be…-

-Sans!-

The little one bursted out in laughter soon followed by Papyrus, the strange nature of the situation and sudden discovery of twins seemed hilarious to them. Even their laughs were alike.

-Hehehe…What are the odds? - He took a deep breath and calmed down – but in all seriousness this is amazing! We should hang out together, I'm sure my Paps would be so excited to meet you!-

-Does he enjoy puzzles too?-

-No, I'm the one who's always pushing him out off the couch every day and making new strategies for when a human comes, he just…umm…lays around-

-Really? That sounds a lot like my brother! I guess we got swapped around-

\- Yeah, but it's nice to have someone else who understands the things I care for. Do you want to go see the other puzzles I've made?-

-You made more!? Of course!-

Both skeletons pranced through the cold terrain, like two children they were filled with joy at the simplest of things, as they tried Sans's puzzles with the two of them admiring, criticizing, praising and discussing every detail like the world depended on it. They even tried to out-do the other in human traps theory coming to a close result that declared Papyrus as the winner.

Finally they slowly crossed the bridge, tired from such an outburst.

-You're a pretty cool guy, Papyrus. I'm just wondering something-

-Please ask anything-

-How come I've never met you before?-

-That´s really simple. You're just a character in my dream who resembles my brother and my inner subconscious feelings of solitude and self-awareness, perhaps even how broken my only family relationship is. Basically you're just part of my imagination-

-Oh, that's really depressing. I always thought I was real…-

-At least our friendship it's real-

The little skeleton turned around excitedly, his eyes shining with joy as he said.

-I, the magnificent Sans, recognize you, the great Papyrus, as my friend and puzzle bud!-

Papyrus let out a squeal as he hugged the little monster (who was equally excited) and both spin around.

-What in hell are you two doing!?-

The puzzle buds finished their embrace, threatened by the tall skeleton in an orange hoodie with a cigar on his jaw. Sans was clearly clueless about the matter and approached his brother alone.

-Paps I want you to meet other Paps, he's a puzzle enthusiast and…my friend-

-Go back home-

-Why?-

He did not answer and instead focused on his counterpart.

-You foreign trash! How dare you come here and harm my brother!-

-What?-

Before he could articulate a full question a bone attack almost hit him.

-Paps, bro, What are you doing?! He´s done nothing wrong!-

-I won't let you take him away again!-

This time Papyrus dodged the attack and fled, Sans's brother was about to shoot at him when the little skeleton pushed him aside and headed towards his friend. With his stronger physical condition he caught up to Papyrus.

-Papyrus! Quick hold my hand!-

-O-okay-

From the moment their hands touched each other their surroundings suddenly changed, going from Snowdin's bridge to the center of Waterfall. A strange house stood before them and Sans rushed in.

-Alphys! Alphys please, open the door!-

A reptilian female warrior emerged with concern on her eye; a scar permanently closed the other one, and swiftly examined both monsters.

-What is going on? Why is Papyrus dressing up like that?-

-He's not our Papyrus but someone similar, and my brother is trying to kill him! He's been polite and friendly I don't get my bro's hate…Alphys, I'm afraid of what he'll do…-

The poor skeleton was shivering with fear; behind him Papyrus gazed at her confused. She sighed.

-Let's go with Undyne, she'll know what to do.-

Rushing towards Undyne's lab was the trio, none of them dared to speak for they felt their talk could waste precious time; little did they know that their urgency might have been exaggerated as Paps was nowhere to be seen nor were there any signs of him around.

Their journey was long but they'd finally reached their destination, however the lab's doors were closed and Hotland's already infernal temperature was rising making the skeletons feel weak.

-Undyne! Open the door, it's me Alphys! Please it's urgent-

-W-wait a minute please-

Strange noises came from the other side, Alphys had a feeling she would take more than one minute to open the doors and decided to openly question the stranger.

-Hey, it's a little weird I've got to call you the same as Sans's bro, you have a nickname or somethin'?-

-No, but if you find it easier you could call me…-

-Red Papyrus!-

Both looked at the short monster confused by the statement.

-Wouldn't that mean I could call you Blue Sans just because of your kerchief?-

-Alright you'll be Red Pepper-

-Perhaps- said Alphys snickering- we'll stick to Red Pap okay?-

-That sounds cool, right Bluesy?-

The small skeleton grumbled as opened the lab to them; she was really thin and her lab coat was oversized giving a strange first impression. She was about to greet them when her gaze fixated on Papyrus, without hesitation (or words) she introduced them to the lab and locked it again.

-Alright, tell me every single thing about what's going on and him- said while pointing at the foreign monster.

-While I was making my usual rounds for humans, I found him admiring my puzzle; he's quite a wise skeleton when it comes to puzzles-

-Thank you, you flatter me-

-Oh it's nothing-

Undyne seemed a little annoyed at their polite exchange, Alphys noticed the burning curiosity inside her and gave Sans a gentle hit on the back-

-What was that for? Anyway, he seems to bring the worst part of my bro for a reason I still can't comprehend. He tried to kill him! He only mumbled something before attacking and he won't listen to reason-

The doctor had a serious face as she silently observed both Sans and the strange monster, something did not seem right about this scenario, after all she had previously met Papyrus and he was not the type of guy who lets his emotions get in the way. From what Alphys, in their few encounters, had told her Sans could be too innocent and good-willed for his own good, What if this skeleton was pretending to look like Sans's brother in order to let his guard down? She had to believe Papyrus was right; he seemed like one of the only remaining monsters who knew to think logically.

-That's an endearing story, truly, but where did you come from? - She said as her incriminating finger pointed Red Pap.

-What are you implying? Red Pap is a nice guy!-

-I guess I'm rather strange, after all you're not more than the subconscious playing tricks in my mind, of course I look like a mad monster to you!-

Alphys stared at him confused while 's expression went from confused to fascinated to intrigued in a matter of seconds, meanwhile Sans looked at the lab's door anxiously.

-You, you think this is all a dream?-

-Obviously. How else would you explain that I'm talking to an Undyne who's a scientist instead of a fighter, as she is in the real world, in a place where everything appears swapped and I just came here without any knowledge of how I got here?

If that's not dream like I don't know what is-

Her yellow eyes fixated on him before laughing. The three looked at her with concern, she seemed crazy and there were no signs of her ever stopping; Alphys reached for her trying her hardest to bring her back to reality. However, when she stopped laughing she began to search in her desk for something, apparently important, and from a drawer she grabbed a scalpel.

-I though all those theories were only farfetched guesses, but here you are! The living proof of the "other". Would you do me a favor?-

-Umm, I suppose I could?-

-Thanks, it will be only a scratch-

\- What do you…?-

With medical precision Undyne cut a thin layer of Papyrus's radius, rushing over to a complex machine she introduced the sample cautiously; there were strange sounds in the room as the examination was taking place, paralyzed by curiosity the trio had forgotten why they'd decided to take shelter in Undyne's lab and instead focused on the experiment.

Suddenly a cluster of numbers and letters appeared on the screen above the strange machine, the thin monster jumped up and down with excitement before grabbing Papyrus by his scarf drawing him closer.

-You two share the exact same DNA! It's like you're the same entity in different bodies!-

He looked at the scientist with dread, she paused her celebrations and let him go.

-Sorry-

-No…That's…that's…- his body was shivering.

-What's wrong?-

-You shouldn't feel pain while you dream-

She sighed understanding the revelation that hit the monster, his authentic fear pierced right through her heart. The moment was abruptly interrupted by Sans.

-Sorry to interrupt but Paps is still searchin for Red Pap, is there something we can do to calm him down?-

-Please let it be something that doesn't have anything to do with scalpels, you've got him terrified-

Undyne took a glance at the so called "red Pap" knowing the difficult task ahead of her.

-I will bring him home-

-Home but are we not part of his…?-

-No, now let me work please-

Her fingers typed with lighting speed into her computer strange commands, from time to time an image would pop-up only to disappear once again a few moments later. Papyrus was frozen in place with his gaze lost in the floor, Sans was trying to come up with something that'll cheer him up and Alphys guarded the front door.

They were like this for quite some time until a loud noise, coming from the back door, captured everyone's attention; it was similar to a loud knock accompanied by the friction between metal plates on an armor, slowly they grew louder and louder as the walls shake a little from the strong knock. Alphys carefully made her way into the door, as she was midway the door opened and the stranger entered.

She wore a full armor made of shiny metal with a regal cape tied around her neck, her fur was white and somewhat messy, her gaze seemed kind although it was dead-eyed at the moment and she carried a scary trident. It was Queen Toriel.

All around the strong body were blue strings, the queen looked like a puppet and acted as one.

-Your majesty! What has happened to you?-

Alphys's question was answered by a blow from her deadly weapon which the reptilian dodged even to her own surprise. The attacks kept coming her way as the royal guard could only plead and dodge for she could never harm her queen, she seemed oblivious to the demands of her servant and instead intensified her attacks until Alphys failed to dodge. A yell, horrible as the scene itself, emerged from her throat as she fell to the ground grasping her bloody abdomen, crying in Toriel's name before collapsing. Undyne quickly ran to her as so did Sans.

The little skeleton was just some steps away from the mad queen when a figure similar to his appeared out of thin air, Papyrus recognized him instantly as the Sans of his dream; he covered Blue Sans's face with his hand in a move similar to a kidnap. Papyrus escaped his trance and threw himself forward in an effort to save his friend from this mad spirit.

The moment the three of them touched a raging sound invaded the lab paralyzing everyone in sight, soon after the queen fell to the ground, finally conscious, as Undyne looked at the empty space were the three skeletons once stood.


	4. Chapter 3 Lost

Chapter 3. Lost.

-Papyrus, hey Papyrus- the short skeleton knocked one more time on the door, although it was not totally closed he still respected his brother's right to have his own privacy, yet the fact that he had not waken up planted a seed of worry on his carefree mind, he knocked a little harder- Bro if you're not feelin' all that well just let me know with a groan or somethin', like you're making me worry- As nothing came from the other side he decided to dismiss Papyrus' privacy in favor of knowing what was keeping his hyperactive brother in bed.

With a gentle push the door let him in, the room he had seen so many times was intact, and only one component was missing: Papyrus himself. Sans rushed to the messy bed and tossed the blankets in an idiotic effort of finding his brother, from the looks of it Paps just left without properly putting aside his blanket, hadn't Sans already checked the rest of the house already he'd assume that he just went to the bathroom; a cold feeling invaded his bones for his mind wandered to the memory of finding him buried in a frozen tomb, he quickly ran off to the spot where he had fallen the last time with a negative result, his thoughts started to theorize on all the places Papyrus could've gone to and with each failure an increasing fear grew inside his heart.

Finding no traces of his brother on Snowdin he took off to Undyne's house in Waterfall, perhaps the skeleton decided to ignore Dr. Aplhys' recommendations on overdoing his recommended amount of physical activity and went to his friend's house to have some royal guard training that seemed like a possibility. The panic developing inside him prevented Sans from thinking properly, not once did he thought of simply calling Undyne on the phone or using a shortcut, he could only think of the scene he'd seen a week prior. Once he arrived he called for the brave monster, she hurried out of her house with concern that turned into confusion when she saw Sans outside of her doorway.

-Huh…Where's the fire Sans?-

-Sorry, It's just…ummm…Is Paps here?-

-No, why would he be?-

Sans' hopes were crushed and his paranoia threatened to take over as the air around him became heavier, Undyne took note of this and her attitude shifted to one similar to Sans'.

-Sans! What happened to that doofus? When did you last saw him? - her voice shook a little.-

-Yesterday's night.-

-Alright clam down, why don´t we go talk with Aplhys she said something about having installed some cameras around waterfall, so why not ask her?-

Sans nodded drowning in fear.

Undyne's assumptions were correct, when they reached the lab and asked for Alphys' aid they watched the recordings of Waterfall from her multiple cameras, nothing interesting or useful happened on the first hours, however at midnight the footage showed a zombie-like Papyrus wandering alone trough Waterfall, the tree spectators watched intensely as the skeleton slowly walked through the scenery, their worst nightmares could not compare to the shock they felt when they saw him stop at the bottomless void where waterfalls disappeared into nothingness and gracefully jump in just to be swallowed by darkness, Sans could not take it and fell unconscious with only one thought in mind "How can your entire happiness just disappear like that?".

As he recovered from the shock a swarm of thoughts attacked his injured mind, within that mess the one that always appeared like a whisper was "Why?" followed by a "How?", he knew better than anyone in the underground how easy it was to fake a smile to hide a crushing depression, after all he'd convinced Papyrus and the other monsters of being just a little gloomy from time to time but how could he not see past his own brother someone he claimed to know so well as to read his entire existence like an open book, yet Alphys had just showed him his worst fear come true. What did he do wrong? Did he obsess too much with his nightmares and forgot to take care of the real risks? For how long had Papyrus hid his feelings from him? Was the snow accident a failed attempt? How could he live like this? How could he bear the guilt? Deep down he knew he wouldn't be strong enough to forgive himself, after all the only thing that still tied him to this world had jumped into certain death where his ashes would get lost in space and time, to protect what was destroyed before his own eye sockets he had to forgive himself and that was impossible; there was only one way out this shameful failure, to kill the killer, to follow his brother's steps until the very end.

While Sans was busy dealing with the ever-growing guilt inside him Undyne remained silent with her gaze fixed on the screen as if they could tell her that it wasn´t true, she had been like this for quite some time and Alphys started to worry, she timidly approached her and gently put her hand on the soldier's shoulder and, for a brief second, she swore a tear fell down her cheek but before the scientist could consider the possibility of Undyne grieving for a dear friend she turned to the apparently unconscious Sans.

-Hey punk- she said with a strangely kind and sad voice- I can´t even imagine what must be going through that skull of yours but you can´t leave alone on this, before you do anything stupid we must…-

Before she could finish her threat a flash of light flashed on the screens, it was so bright that the lab was covered in light as well catching the attention of the three monsters, once the blinding light disappeared an image took their hearts and twisted it in a horrific mix of hope and horror, on the middle screen, the one that showed the wildest part of Waterfall, was a bloody red scarf emerging from a patch of tall grass and echo flowers, there were too many similarities with Papyrus' scarf to dismiss it as a coincidence so Undyne and Sans fled the lab followed by a confused Alphys.

They were unsure about what waited for them in Waterfall and nothing could've prepared them for what, or rather who, they found: merely standing was an exact copy of Sans who wore only black and with clothes and possessed a deep blooding wound on his chest, parts of his skull bled or were distorted giving the stranger a shady look and to top all of that was, of course, Papyrus' bloody scarf.

As they tried to comprehend what lied before them something clicked on Sans' mind, the night after the snow accident Papyrus had told him of meeting a strange monster who fit the description of the one he was seeing right now, could this monster who mirrored him have something to do with his brother's suicide? The pain within him, always searching for a guilty one to redirect itself, answered with a yes, a yes that resonated all through his bones, leaving in his soul no room for mercy.

-Undyne! This monster was the one Paps saw when he blacked out, him having his scarf maybe a sign of his involvement in … my bro's … disappearance, prepare to attack!-

-He didn't seem friendly anyway- she said as a spear materialized on her hands.

Then the bloody Sans woke up and found himself in a dire situation, with terror he only grasped a single word.

-No…-

-Is…is this Hotland?-

The little skeleton looked around still confused as to what had happened, the heat definitely belonged to Hotland but there was something missing, as he couldn´t quite put his finger on what that something was he decide it was better to look around and see if everyone was alright. The lab's door was open an odd occurrence for Blue but nothing groundbreaking, inside there were no signs of anyone and the place looked terrible, like someone had to take as much as it could and escape somewhere else, following said thought Blue's gaze searched for the escape route and it found it on the door that had always remained closed but now was open, inviting him to discover what lied past it. The skeleton fell for the mystery of that unknown place.

He entered an elevator and pressed down, waiting for it to finally open it's doors and reveal the secret lab that Undyne had been hiding all this time made him feel nervous, there was also the possibility that his friends fled down here so it was a win-win situation for the little and magnificent Sans. When the doors opened some of his excitement disappeared, the place he had arrived to was run down, poorly illuminated and altogether scary, he began to explore it with a considerable hesitation on his soul, and even though it looked creepy there was nothing to be afraid of, well until it ran into the thing.

Creeping through the corridor a horrible beast approached, it could only be described as if two beings died in an embrace, melted into each other and cursed to exist in unity with their distorted voices crying for help, one of which sounded awfully familiar, putting aside his fright Blue examined the creature and it seemed to be the fusion of Red Pap and a Sans similar to the one described by the former, as he took notice of this the creature charged at full force against him. However, someone quickly intervened.

Protecting him was a tall metallic body which took the hit as if it was but a breeze, the beast backed away confused, it appeared as if one part of him respected the monster and the other felt disgust making it do neither. His hero turned around, it had a metal body mostly in black and greys with pink accents and his face was beautiful and kind, even when it looked a bit puzzled.

-Excuse them dear, they don't get many visitors and this place is quite vile. Now, you would not happen to come from the lab won't you?-

-I…I do, but I don't understand how I ended here or where's any of my friends…-

-On those times no one does little skeleton, it's been rough- it took a look at the little monster with honest empathy- Say, if you help me find my friend I promise to help you, while keeping the amalgamate away, a great offer if you ask me- he said with a playful smile.

-Amal…amalgamate? That's what that is called?-

-They're an amalgamate, I think their name as an individual is yet to be…sorry darling but there's no time for this right now, would you come along or not?-

-I…yes, sure.-

-Alright then, have you seen a yellow monster with a lizard-like appearance wearing a lab coat up there?-

-No, I know someone like that but she'll never wear something like that.-

-Thanks, with that there's just one other place she could be at-

-Where?-

-Deep within this lab, come on we have a lot to cover.-

Blue nodded, this secret lab was certainly dreadful but he'll stay true to his word.

Papyrus had heard of the stars from Sans on those Sunday's evenings spent looking through the telescope in Waterfall, he always knew those shining objects on the cave's ceiling were not the beautiful dots that adorned the surface's night sky but it was a nice thought to hold on to, especially when he felt a little down about reaching the surface the shining duplicates were reminders of what Papyrus' dreams about the common goal of all monsters were: to see the "stars"; and now he was surrounded by nothing more than that, alone on a tiny asteroid and the vastness of space he suddenly felt insignificant, it was as if space itself tried to crush the skeleton with it's absurd size making the first terrified of such a force.

In a moment of pure primal fear of the unknown he tried to cover and kneel down to feel the earthy surface of the asteroid but, thanks to the almost non-existent gravity pull, he ended up doing the opposite of what he desired and instead drifted into space. No matter how much he moved his body he was defenseless against the soft pull of the star filled scenery, he tried for a while fighting against his fear and disbelief, until he collapsed.

Alone and cold on a strange place far from home with no idea on how or why he was there, slowly and aimlessly moving through a beautiful yet terrifying eternity, it sure was not a dream though he wished it was, no, all was real.

"Will I ever see my brother again? What would happen to me? Who will train with Undyne? Who will become a part of the royal guard if not me? Will they miss me?

Will they remember the great and amazing Papyrus?" Thoughts that occurred as he curled up and cried in silence, the silence he seemed to share with this universe who wanted to bury him in his immensity; his tears went on for a long time until another sensation caught his attention.

On his scarf, near the vertebrae of his neck something creeped and disappeared to creep once again, he reached for the strange object and brought it to his face, it was a small spider. Trying to appear normal he cleared his voice and asked.

-Hey little guy how did you ended here?-

The spider moved its legs in a strange fashion which made Papyrus grin.

-Sorry, I am not well versed in spider-

The little arachnid shook as if scared and then put most of its legs on to the stars above them.

-Oh, you're scared because of the stars?-

The spider danced again.

-I'm sorry I don't even know where we are so I could not tell you not to be scared of them, but you can trust that the great and amazing Papyrus will protect you little one-

The invertebrate hopped in joy as Paps returned him to his scarf and moved it so the spider wouldn't fall off, well, drift off. Somehow knowing he was not alone made him feel a little better even if he was near collapsing again he'll try to be strong for his new friend. Even so, some tears still escaped Paps' eye sockets.

-Hey skeleton are you crying?-

Papyrus looked on the voice's direction; there was a spider monster with a beautiful blue and yellow outfit that was looking, with all of her five eyes, at him. In her gaze was a sincere pity that made him feel safe so he answered her question with honesty. The monster took a liking to him and even more so when the little spider crossed from the skeleton to the arachnid lady.

-Oh Milo! We've been searching for you this whole time! - She looked at the stranger- This monster…protected you? Then we must thank him!-

Grabbing his hands she professed her gratitude with an emotional tone on her voice.

-Good skeleton thank you for saving my poor spider please let me help you-

-I…I just want to go home-

-And where is your home?-

-Far, way too far-

She stood in silence for a few seconds before making up her mind.

-I get that you're far from where you want to be and lost, dear skeleton there are too many dangers on these parts of the galaxy please stay on our humble home until we can figure a way to truly help-

-Umm, alright but please stop the skeleton thing my name is Papyrus, you can add the great and amazing if you want but no more skeleton please-

She giggled as if ashamed of her own formality.

-Alright Papyrus, you can call me Muffet-

-Whoa that's a pretty name!-

-You think so?-

The spider danced on Muffet's shoulder; apparently it was something very funny because the monster laughed.

Holding Muffet's hand he was able to move, thanks to her, somewhat freely and that security gave him the opportunity to appreciate the colors of space, from the ever-lasting black to the softs blues of nebulas passing through the red and yellow of the stars and the greys of the floating rocks.

-It's so beautiful-

Muffet smiled, even when she was no stranger to space some places could always amaze her no matter how many times she looked at them. Sadly her home was far from the astounding views, in the darkest part of space a giant hollow planetoid stood out, it looked like it was dead but inside of it were countless spider webs all creating intricate designs from one hole to the next, in the center of it all were some objects used in cooking mixed with miscellaneous things almost as if the spiders just liked to hoard them. On that disaster Papyrus could finally stand on top of the webs as Muffet, accompanied by multiple little spiders, searched for something to offer.

-You must be hungry, I have some donuts around just…-

From a strange oven-like object she took a box filled with food.

Both of them sat on the webs and ate some of the donuts, although odd looking the pastries were quite tasty and the skeleton could not resist complimenting the chef of such culinary marvel time and time again.

-Are they really good though? No one seems interested on buying them.-

-Whatever do you mean? These are amazing, almost as amazing as me!-

She laughed with sadness on her voice which turned into silence as she stared through the holes of her home into the poor lit sky.

-It's quite the rough life for us the spiders, I have no problem traveling from one place to another but my little family often gets carried away and, sometimes, I don't find them and they disappear forever…all because we've got to go out there to sell our goods even if most monsters just walk away or try to negotiate for an even more low price, it's ridiculous-

She sighed moving her head from left to right back and forth.

-Sorry, I've must have bored you with my talk about spiders and all, I don't know why I opened up to you-

-Do not worry about that it's nice to have someone to talk to, somehow having company makes me feel a lot better, maybe the same is true for you-

-I highly doubt it, I think I picked you up because you reminded me of my poor spiders-

-Mmm? How so?-

-You were drifting with no control, powerless and scared on to an unknown place-

-I guess you're right, but even if you did it for that reason that doesn't take away the fact that you rescued me and opened up to me-

-I don't know, you're weird…umm…sorry that wasn't very nice of me what I meant to say is that I'm not usually this kind had you not reminded me of my spiders or rescued one I would've gone somewhere else ignoring you. Most monsters disgust me, they're selfish and always look down on the little defenseless ones as if their strength gave them the right to do so, perhaps my hatred for the cruelty against my family is what drives away potential clients…-

-I think you just have to be positive, but if the monsters from around here are rejecting these donuts **after** eating them I'll totally understand why you don't like them, though being nice is a great selling point if you ask me-

-Thank you Papyrus, you can't understand how much your words mean to me. Sometimes the pressure of keeping our business alive, for the sake of all spiders, is really demanding especially when you see others thrive where you fail-

-Is there another spider bakery around?-

-No, I…I once had a friend who I shared a lot with, his name was Grillby, we often talked about the future, both of us wanted to sell food to all the monsters and we would've had lots and lots of customers who'll come every day into our stores. Neither of us is near that goal, but at least Grillby doesn't have to fight every day to collect enough money to maintain his family or watch them risk their lives in an effort to make some profit, it was my jealousy what separated us his success is like a wound to my pride that I cannot close.-

-And do you like living like this?-

-Of course not-

-Then go and fix up your friendship, he could even help you sell some of your stuff-

-If it were that easy I'd have already done it-

Papyrus looked at the stars leaving Muffet and her spiders on a complete silence, she thought she had finally frustrated him so when he started talking she listened very carefully.

-You know my brother always told me the stars were something beautiful beyond measure, he often did it to cheer me up as we can't see them from my home but now that I see them they don't look as grand. You know why? Because he is not here. Muffet, I, the great Papyrus, don…don't have many friends, I do not know why most monsters brush me off but the few I have as my friends are my most dear possession! So please go and say hello to Grillby, don't apologize if you don't feel like it, just chat and see if he really is what you think. You're not a bad monster, you care for your family, you try your best to keep them happy and you're kind…you've just met the wrong monsters, I'm sure the spiders want to see you happy as well- The spiders danced in unison-Come on, no one should've to live alone-

-What you say is true except for a little something-

-What?-

-That you have, at least, one more friend- she said with a smile, and he looked at her with the purest happiness.

The lab's doors were opened with tremendous force and from them and angry tall figure appeared, clearly exhausted but with anger so rabid it twisted his whole being.

-At last! That dammed spider was but a mere distraction to stop me, now that I've reached you I demand to see Sans!- he shouted with violence on his voice- And the stranger, do not hide them anymore Undyne!-

who was crying over her friend's wounded body answered in a weak voice.

-They're gone-

Oblivious to the scene, blinded by rage and filled with fear Papyrus threw the scientist's desk while yelling at all his body would let him.

-Then let me follow them! Make me cross dimensions if you will but bring back Sans or I swear I'll tear you…-

Papyrus finally looked at the horrific picture before him, he could not believe what he was seeing, Alphys, the mighty soldier of the underground, was on the floor next to Undyne losing tons of blood while Queen Toriel tried her best to stop said bleeding, Undyne just stood there crying overwhelmed by the situation, to top it all off the Queen's trident was covered in blood.

His rage was replaced by urgency as he moved through the lab in search of something to help Alphys, finally having some help Queen Toriel proceeded to snap Undyne out of it so she could help as well.

-Undyne, Undyne you must aid this young monster cure your friend. If you only cry she'll die and the guilt of letting her go because of your shock will haunt you forever, please it's already too easy for death to claim all that we love don't let it win now-

The scientist looked at her queen with tears on her eyes as she let go of her dear friend, quickly coming into Papyrus' aid. She would save Alphys, then Sans and maybe even the cross-dimensional Papyrus.

-Closed? Who in their right mind closed the path to the back of the lab? Sorry little buddy but it seems we'll have to take another route-

-Alright, I'll follow you-

The robot smiled, the little monster sure was eager to please him or just wanted to see his friends, either way it was nice to see someone with so much optimism for a change. They went through a large corridor that was as dark as the entire facility, Blue could feel as if tons of eyes were watching his every step, he was a brave monster but that did not stopped him from feeling uneasy, deep down he knew that this place had no good in it and that something horrible must've happened, but he was afraid to ask.

At the end of the corridor there was a door that didn't quite match the style of it's surroundings, the robot opened the door and Sans entered what seemed like a little room. There was a door on the opposite side of the room and a dim light hanged from the ceiling, there were two little mattresses and a nightstand for each; however there was no time to lose and his protector only wandered with the intent of finding the key to the other door, while he was doing that Sans accidentally stepped on a slim book he picked it up but as he was going to tell the robot he went through the door into an open room.

A strange sound can be heard, both monsters follow it cautiously before meeting with it's author. As soon as Blue saw him memories of his nightmares came back to him freezing him in place.

He was really similar to Blue in the shape of their bodies but the skeleton was pitch black with streaming blue marks in his skull, an ill yellow covered his eye accents, fingertips and devious smile a vibrant red covered parts of his body with his eye sockets being the dominant trait. He seemed to have bits and pieces missing that were just floating nearby their rightful place, yet the most intriguing thing about the character who stood, who levitated in front of them were the blue strings that emerged from his fingertips and adhered to the ceiling. He looked at the duo with a smile so evil it would sent shivers down the spine of any monster who saw it.

Confused by two similar monsters but weary of the odd aura the robot acquired a defensive stance and asked with caution if the stranger had seen his friend.

He answered in a horrible voice that quickly and abruptly turned deep or high-pitched or normal to deep again.

-Grief and guilt,

Can't be bashed away,

By those who dare,

To quit their stay-

Both stood in silence not comprehending the rhyme the monster had said, he took notice of this and with annoyance answered.

-The old lizard jumped off the dumpster's falls, she's been long dead as this entire universe soon will, don't worry you were never supposed to survive anyway-

The robot was shocked and wasn´t prepared when the stranger pierced his chest leaving him to die slowly on the floor, he starts to laugh singing time after time "You're all doomed" while kicking what's left of the poor monster. Blue tries to escape but is grabbed by his strings which drag him down a portal to a white space.

-You've been a terrible puppet, you left your master alone. There are consequences for such behavioral issues but these will have to wait until I have him in my possession. By the way say goodbye to this dammed universe before I destroy it-

Fighting to stay in the lab Sans could only see one last bit of that universe: the robot who laid almost dead on the floor was approached by the amalgamate who hugged it whimpering loudly with great sadness.


End file.
